


What You'll Find, and What You Can't Get Back

by Rin_the_Shadow



Series: If You Lose Something... [2]
Category: Dororo (Anime 2019)
Genre: Ableism, Ableist Language, Adopted Siblings, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Disabled Character, Families of Choice, Follows some events of the 2019 anime/stage play, Found Family, Gen, Nonverbal Communication, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Siblings, Routine Disruption, Semiverbal Character, Sensory Aversions, Sensory Overload, burn injury, discussion of deals with demons, journeying, meeting new people, patchwork communication systems, shapeshifting demons, the third one's probably going to get adopted too at some point, these three are good siblings, they don't always get it right but they try
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 08:07:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25347475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rin_the_Shadow/pseuds/Rin_the_Shadow
Summary: Sequel to "What's Lost, and What's Thrown Away." Hyakkimaru and Kaname set out to recover his body, and to help the people Kaname wasn't able to before. Their worlds are rapidly changing, and they find themselves struggling to keep up.Or:Hyakkimaru and Kaname head out on a journey and end up gaining a few new additions to the family in the process.
Relationships: Dororo & Hyakkimaru (Dororo), Hyakkimaru & Kaname (Dororo), Kaname & Dororo (Dororo)
Series: If You Lose Something... [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1835656
Comments: 72
Kudos: 118





	1. A New Normal

In the few days they had been walking, Hyakkimaru had only killed two demons. That made sense. There had been a time there were a lot, but there had been less of them even before he left the house. Just the ones that attacked were stronger.

Both of these demons were weak compared to the ones back home. That made him worry. The last demons back home had been strong, or at least fast. Would his Big Soul be able to handle them without him there?

No, but wait. Big Soul had written something for him… Right. The demons wanted his body, not his big soul. Because there was some kind of deal. Someone gave his body to demons? For something else?

But what about the one that got after Kaname? Didn’t Big Soul know about that?

No. Big Soul was strong. Big Soul was the one who taught Hyakkimaru how to fight. Big Soul would be able to handle the demons.

Though he still didn’t understand why Big Soul couldn’t come with him. They had tried to explain, but the reason didn’t make sense. If Kaname could come with him, why not both? Maybe they didn’t know he wanted that? But then somehow Kaname _must_ have known, because they came with him.

Maybe he should have tried to write it? _WANT BIG SOUL GO_. He could go back and write it—

He felt a hand on his shoulder and a light pulsing of Kaname’s aura which he had learned meant that Kaname was joking with him. Some time ago, he’d also learned that when Kaname’s aura did that, it meant whatever they did, he could do back and it was not cruel. Like pushing him in the garden. Or play-fighting.

But Kaname didn’t do anything like that this time, and putting a hand on his shoulder wasn’t something that was joking. Then they were doing something else that was joking. In the past, he’d seen them doing something, just standing there and sometimes moving their hands. At first he thought they were doing some kind of motions that meant something, but they kept using the same ones for so many things, or doing something else with their hands while standing there—like cutting food, like building limbs—so they weren’t signs that he could use, too. It was something else.

Hyakkimaru hadn’t understood what that something else was until one time, they’d been doing that while Big Soul was holding him. He’d felt the faintest vibrations from his Big Soul’s chest. Another time, it happened while Kaname was holding him. Then the vibrations must have meant something to them.

Once or twice, he’d tried to make his own, to do like they did. But he hadn’t been able to make any no matter how hard he tried. It was strange. He hadn’t understood why it was different for him. Maybe there was something supposed to be in his chest, and the demons took that, too?

But that must have been what Kaname was doing, even if they knew he didn’t understand what the vibrations meant, and that he couldn’t feel them as strong as they seemed to.

The hand on his shoulder rubbed up and down several times, and this time, feelings of comfort tinged with regret moved through him. It didn’t seem like anything bad had happened since they’d started walking, so maybe Kaname also wished they could have brought Big Soul along with them. Maybe they’d tried to convince them, and it hadn’t worked.

Hyakkimaru let himself list to one side, until he nearly crashed into Kaname. It wasn’t quite the same when they were still walking, but maybe just feeling him press against them for a moment would help. Or he might try to push them, returning his own version of the joke.

Sometime later, Kaname had him sit down and started working at something. Multiple dim green souls—sticks that had been separated from their trees for some time. Oh! They must have been making a fire. But the food they had was mostly dried fish. That didn’t need to be cooked again. Big Soul didn’t cook the same fish twice. And Hyakkimaru hadn’t seen them finding anything else. Even if he had, fruit and berries didn’t need to be cooked. As Hyakkimaru thought about it, he could recall many times when Kaname and Big Soul had made a fire and didn’t cook something with it. You couldn’t eat metal tools, for one (and as he got older, they were less and less pleasant to chew on), and even then, they didn’t always build it for that either.

Sometimes he wondered just what fire was for, anyway. It made some foods okay to eat. It also made it to where Big Soul needed to blow on it before giving it to him. Something about “hot” and “burn,” which Hyakkimaru understood was something he didn’t feel, but they did. It didn’t have a soul either, which was strange. How could it cook things and “burn” things if it had no soul? It swallowed up the green souls, but how did it do that? Big Soul wrote that fire had energy, but it didn’t. If it did, he would have seen it.

It must have had something else, then. Once, it tried to swallow him up, and he hadn’t known what was happening until Big Soul had yanked him away from it and struck him over his arm and side. But their soul hadn’t been angry. It had been spikey and fearful, so much that Hyakkimaru had locked up until Big Soul picked him up and held him. Kaname’s soul had done the same thing later, after Big Soul had used the vibrations to tell them what happened.

“Burn” was something that meant it hurt you in some way. Big Soul had tried to write for him what “hurt” meant, and from what he understood, it was kind of like feeling scared or upset, but in your body, not in your soul. Like when he locked up, but it stayed that way even when the locking passed. Or like when he was tired after his surgeries and moving was too hard, only more unpleasant. So hurt made it hard to move, and burning was a type of hurt that had to do with “hot” and fire when it tried to swallow something.

But fire didn’t always swallow things. Fire couldn’t get things if you put blue souls, like pots, between it and the thing you wanted to cook. But sometimes Big Soul cooked crabs, and they didn’t put those in a blue soul. So it must have had a shape he couldn’t see, and you just had to stay out of the shape unless you put a blue soul between it.

Maybe “hot” was good for something else besides food. So Kaname must have thought they needed it right now.

In this case, maybe it was best to let Kaname take the lead, at least until something more interesting came up. Or until they could sleep for the night.

He really hoped no monsters would attack this time. He hoped Big Soul was okay back home.

* * *

“I’m going to tell Jukai you kept trying to go back.” Hyakkimaru wouldn’t understand his exact words, but he would understand the teasing threat aimed in his direction.

Seconds later, Hyakkimaru crashed against him, continuing to push as if he wanted to make him stumble. With a light laugh, Kaname looped an arm around him and spun him around, causing him to latch onto his arms and return the favor. He wouldn’t push hard enough to knock him down—Hyakkimaru had long since become aware of his own strength—and before long, they would calm down and return to walking.

He’d been like this almost the entire time they’d been away. He would walk for some time, then he would find something he was interested in and want to watch it for a bit, and then a monster would attack or something else would happen that reminded him of home, and he would end up staring back the way they came. Since he hadn’t _really_ tried to go back, that probably wasn’t exactly what he meant to do. But joking with him seemed to distract him at least for a little bit.

At times, Kaname wondered if it might have been better to change some of his routines, if those weren’t part of what kept reminding him of home. But then, that might just stress him out. It would have been effectively the same as taking away the few things he had that were familiar.

Hyakkimaru would get used to traveling. Until then, they would keep their mealtimes and rest times as consistent as possible. The problem with that being, of course, that demons didn’t exactly follow routines. More than once, they had been attacked in preparation to eat or to lie down. Which meant that once Hyakkimaru dispatched the demon, they needed time to move the body somewhere that it wouldn’t attract scavengers, or find a new site for themselves if that wasn’t possible. Then Hyakkimaru would need to be checked for injuries, cleaned up, and occasionally take a bandage change if there was too much blood to let him keep wearing them. His old bandages would need to be cleaned and boiled. Even though Hyakkimaru was able to help with the bandage changes now, and even complete them on his own while Kaname cleaned the old ones, it still meant that their routine was pushed back.

To Kaname’s surprise, this didn’t seem to affect him as much when it came to mealtimes. But he supposed this must have been one of the things Jukai had taught him. When he had access to food, he needed to eat. Which obviously wasn’t quite that simple, when he hadn’t yet consumed all of the dried foods Jukai had sent with him, but at the very least, if Hyakkimaru was offered food, he seemed to take it as a cue that he needed to eat.

However, sleeping was another story entirely. It wasn’t like that was unexpected, not when it was much easier to go from eating to fighting than it was to get up from sleep. But when it got to a point that he would refuse even to lie down, Kaname had realized that after that kind of attack, they needed to be somewhere sheltered. If they couldn’t find anywhere, then the only thing to be done was just to try and soothe him until he lulled to sleep.

Even on nights like this one, where they had managed to find shelter—in this case, someone’s home which had been abandoned—it would still set them back. Hyakkimaru needed to check their new environment before he could be certain there was no danger. It wasn't like Kaname could blame him. There was always something just a bit _off_ about these places.

When he returned from his patrol around the house, Kaname waved him over with an, “All clear?” and Hyakkimaru sank against his side. “That’s good, then,” he said, running a hand up and down his arm.

There was a creak, and while Hyakkimaru didn't react, Kaname squeezed just a little tighter with the arm he'd looped around him. This was fine. They would keep walking, they would find monsters and patients. They would figure this out.

Even if neither of them really wanted this to be their new normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While there aren't any depictions of violence in this chapter, and really, not a lot happens here just yet, there are some events I'm planning to carry over from the anime which probably would constitute that even if I wrote them from Hyakkimaru's perspective and thus avoided visual descriptors.
> 
> For this first chapter, I was thinking that I wanted to get a POV section in for Hyakkimaru prior to him gaining ears and a voice, since I realized fairly quickly that I would be doing some POV-switching for this one. Because a lot of things are changing for him, I think he would spend a lot of time connecting the unfamiliar things with stuff he's already familiar with. In part because this is what I would do in an unfamiliar environment, particularly if I don't fully understand what I'm supposed to do there or how to do it.
> 
> It's tempting for me to jump right into the events of the first episode, but I felt that this segment needed to be written first. Something like needing a "stasis" before you can break it. Even if that stasis isn't necessarily a "stasis" to begin with.
> 
> In any event, please let me know what you think!  
> ~Rin


	2. In Your Own Skin

Hyakkimaru’s path had taken them into Kaga Province. To some extent, Kaname was surprised they hadn’t come here earlier. It wasn’t as though they had lived far away from it, not farther than a few days’ walk, give or take.

Then again, there was something about this place which didn’t seem quite right. Though, try as he might, Kaname couldn’t figure out just what that was. He supposed it could be because he hadn’t left Jukai’s village in almost fifteen years.

But that was almost too easy. Beyond that, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something really _was_ off about this place.

Maybe it was the fact that no one else looked like they did. No one seemed to be missing any limbs or relying on anyone else to help them get around. Maybe he was reading too much into it, and maybe this village was somehow sheltered by the presence of a powerful lord. And yet. That didn’t seem like quite enough.

Suddenly, Hyakkimaru turned and lunged for the sharp slope at the edge of the path. Was it a monster? One he couldn’t see?

But then Hyakkimaru hauled something back up the hill. As he turned to continue walking, Kaname saw that it had been a young child who was walking with his mother. Ah. He must have slipped and fallen.

“Don’t be rude!” the child’s mother scolded, pushing his head down. “You need to thank him!”

Kaname returned the bow hesitantly. Of course, Hyakkimaru wouldn’t hear them and might not understand the gesture, but he would probably understand their feelings of gratitude.

The child hardly paid attention, twisting around in her grasp. “Mom, is there a festival today?”

“No, there isn’t,” she answered. “We had one not long ago.”

“Then how come that guy was wearing a mask?”

Kaname felt his heart stop. Of course, _someone_ was bound to ask about his body eventually. He just hadn’t expected it to be so soon or so directly. Or directed at someone else besides him, for that matter. As it was, what was he supposed to say? It wasn’t as if he could just go telling any and everyone that his little brother had been sacrificed to demons and so they were trying to retrieve it. That apparently, however many it had been originally, the others had all decided they could help themselves to what was left or even try to take a second helping. It might have been years since he’d ventured out on his own, but back then, that hadn’t been the kind of thing a person went around telling people, and he didn’t think that would have changed in that time.

Thankfully, the woman took her child, retrieved her basket, and started walking away. “I’m sure that wasn’t the case,” she told him. “He was probably just a very serious person…”

Almost immediately, Kaname felt a slight sting of regret, and wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t as if they needed to know why Hyakkimaru wore a mask. If that child had needed medical attention, it might somehow have been relevant, yet…

It had been just a little too long since Hyakkimaru had bumped him or tried to tug him along. And sure, sometimes that meant he was hovering nearby or that he was feeling crowded and didn’t know what to do, but in this case…

Kaname turned and bolted in the direction Hyakkimaru had headed.

* * *

There was something wrong. Hyakkimaru wasn’t sure just what, but he started to notice it not long after that little soul had flared with alarm and started to slide off the path. He’d caught it and pulled it back up, then started in the direction he’d felt the wrong thing.

Kaname wasn’t with him—they must have gotten separated when he started running—but that might be better. If the wrong thing turned out to be a demon, he didn’t want it getting after Kaname.

He came to a space with a large, faded green soul that stretched out over the empty space. A bridge. It must have been over a river—he thought he could see some of the fish and other small creatures below, if he focused on them. But they didn’t swim near the parts of the bridge that were closest to him. In some spaces, it seemed like there were patches of green to either side, farther from him. So the bridge must have been very high above the water. And not only was the green of the bridge faint, it was missing in some places. An old bridge. The kind he wasn’t supposed to be on because it could fall or break.

But surely Kaname and Big Soul would both understand why he had to be on this bridge. Why he needed to be where he could see as far as possible with as few things blocking his vision as possible. The wrong thing was somewhere around here. Getting stronger. Which maybe meant it was getting closer. So then where was it?

Another of the little souls was under the bridge. The way it was moving, it must have been doing something with the water, but not swimming or drinking. This was bad. Little souls couldn’t do anything against demons. That was part of why they needed to stay with their big souls. And the wrong thing was probably a demon this time. That must be why it felt so strong.

Something was happening under the bridge. Three big souls? Did some little souls have more than one? Hyakkimaru guessed they could. Or maybe some of them were like Kaname—not a big soul, but not a little soul, and not the same as Hyakkimaru either.

But something was wrong there, too. There was something about the three maybe-big souls. Sort of like anger, but closer to what he felt from the demons that tried to eat him, even though these souls weren’t red.

This was bad. There was too much of the not-red coming from them. Making it hard to focus on the Wrong Thing. If he lost it now…

It was definitely something red. But the three not-reds were doing something, flaring big over it. Didn’t they understand they were supposed to protect little souls from demons? They needed to take it away from the red before—

Suddenly, it sprang up almost as high as the bridge, grabbing the three not-reds even as two tried to run—why didn’t they protect the little soul?—and swallowing them. Then, it lunged again, going for the little soul.

Hyakkimaru leapt up, ripping off one of his forearms and slashing between the demon and the little soul, landing under it, using his back to catch it so it wouldn’t hit the water. Then throwing it away from the demon.

The shape kept changing, but it never really became anything. How could he know where to cut?

But maybe…

He leapt back towards the bridge, pulling off his other arm and throwing them towards the side.

The demon followed him, crashing into the spot where he had just been. He felt it shaking, but it didn’t fall.

Too much green to break easily, then.

Hyakkimaru bit down on the blades, first one, then the other. He needed them long. He hoped he got the right length.

The demon didn’t realize what he was doing, and it chased him. Crashing into the beams where he had been, spreading over the bridge. Making it hard to see the green with so much red.

But it didn’t seem to notice when he slashed green instead of red. Why not? Didn’t it also see the bridge? Didn’t it know what it was climbing on?

The bridge lurched as he pushed off one of the posts. Even as he leapt clear of it, something didn’t feel right.

Hyakkimaru twisted, landing in the water and rolling to get up.

If it wasn’t dead, he didn’t want to get his swords stuck in the mud.

The little soul flared with alarm behind him. But it was okay. The red soul was already fading.

Oh. But there was something else. A blue soul lodged against some of the wood from the bridge. His third sword.

Hyakkimaru wasn’t sure why Big Soul made him take it when he already had two that were much easier to use and keep track of. But if they wanted him to have it, it must be important.

It was annoying to pick up using just his blades, and for a moment, he wished he could just leave it. But on the third try, Hyakkimaru managed it. Shifting it to his mouth—gross, he could taste a bit of what must have been from the demon—he carried it back away from the water.

Now he just needed to find—wait. The little soul was running towards him, carrying two green souls. His arms!

When he reached the shore, Hyakkimaru held out his arms, waiting for the little soul to put the forearms back. Did it know someone like him, and that was how it knew what to do?

He needed to find some dirt, then he could write, _KNOW SOUL LIKE SAME?_

Would he need to write his name, too? So it would know he meant the same as him? Did he know them well enough?

The little soul was moving all over, flaring with questions. Did they use different movements to communicate? Or was this something else with vibrations?

But before he could lead them to the dirt, he felt his body lock up. Just like before.

The wrong feeling was building up and making his body shake.

His mask. Something was wrong with his mask. But he needed his mask.

Hyakkimaru tried to reach for it. His hands didn’t work.

The little soul grabbed at his hands and he wanted to pull away. But he felt himself falling. His mask fell off. He needed his mask!

Where was Kaname? He needed Kaname!

He needed Big Soul.

Something was creeping over his face. Under his bandages.

Big fear spiked from the little soul as he finally got control of his hands, pressing them against his face. The wrong feeling was fading, but his face still felt wrong. Something was tapping on his head and on his back. But it didn’t help.

Hyakkimaru kept running his hands over his face. Was it like Kaname’s face? Those times he felt against it? Was it the same?

Maybe it wasn’t wrong, then. So why did it feel wrong?

He reached for his mask. It didn’t sit right anymore either. But he knew his mask. Knew the mask going on meant the big changes were over. For now. Until he got bigger or broke something.

And then something was over his hair and on his back, but not the tapping. He knew that pressure. Kaname!

The little soul was still hovering, but now Kaname was there, too. And neither of them was trying to make him take off his mask.

And so they sat there, each of the three, until the wrong feeling had finished fading.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For a time, I wasn't sure if I was going to cover the entrance to Kaga Province in episode 1, but then as I thought about it, there were definitely a few things I wanted to cover. Hyakkimaru literally dropping a bridge on the demon being one of them. But it also occurred to me that over the course of the first fic, I had kind of ended up turning his mask into a bit of a comfort object, and he would definitely have feelings about regrowing skin. 
> 
> But I also wanted to get Kaname's first impressions of Ishikawa. Some of my previous fics have featured characters like Tahomaru noticing something "off" about a place or Hyakkimaru noticing something "off" about a person, but I felt that Kaname would pick up on different things than either of them.
> 
> In any event, please let me know what you think!  
> ~Rin


	3. Three Circles Interlinked

It had taken some time before Hyakkimaru allowed himself to be led away from the river, and longer still before he would take his mask away from his face. When Kaname had found him, he’d been hunched over, stiff and breathing harshly yet silently into his mask. Between the fallen bridge and the young child hovering around yelling, “Hey! Are you hurt? Are you even human? What’s going on?” it wasn’t that hard to guess what happened.

Hyakkimaru had gotten another of the demons, probably the one with his skin, since he wasn’t on the ground writhing and Kaname didn’t see any limbs lying around. And now he was panicking because, after all, it wasn’t like he had much experience with growing body parts.

Kaname had rushed over to try and calm him. Of course it would have been better to get all of them out of the rain, but with Hyakkimaru locking up and without Jukai to help carry him, that wasn’t going to happen.

“Hey…do you know this guy?” the child asked.

Kaname was tempted not to answer him. It was natural enough just to focus on what he was doing, what with fifteen years of practice. Still, there was no harm in answering. “He’s my little brother.”

“Oh, okay. Definitely human, then. Unless _you’re_ something else, too.” He narrowed his eyes, studying him. “How come he likes that mask so much?”

Because up until today, he needed it to protect his face. But that wasn’t the only reason. Hyakkimaru had tried to tell him once before, when Kaname hadn’t understood how his writing worked. In hindsight, Hyakkimaru hadn’t been writing long enough at that time to have known the words for it. Not unless his reasoning somehow had to do with his name, water, and help. He’d ended up running his hands down either side of his face, then smashed their foreheads together hard enough to leave a bruise.

Probably something about comfort and family. And maybe remembering, too. Maybe. Perhaps he should ask again sometime.

“He might tell you someday,” was all he ended up saying. That seemed to be the fairest answer.

“Oh, so he _can_ hear? I clapped my hands earlier and he didn’t even flinch…”

Kaname wondered if it wouldn’t have been better to tell him not to pry. But at the same time, between his absurd bluntness, the scratches and bruises all over him, and the fact that he’d somehow been close enough to a demon to have watched Hyakkimaru grow skin, Kaname had a pretty good idea of where this kid’s parents were. (Besides, Hyakkimaru didn’t seem to mind him, at least as far as he could tell.)

His suspicions about the kid’s parents were only confirmed when Hyakkimaru had let Kaname lead him into a small clearing in the trees, and the child had followed.

“It almost seems like you can see.” He’d gone back to speaking to Hyakkimaru instead of him.

A little later, he added, “Seems like you’ve got a lot of nice swords. Can I have one?” Kaname had to fight the flinch. Someone that young shouldn’t be so eager to get a sword. Especially when he’d seemingly lost his parents. Probably to samurai, if he dared to venture a guess.

When Kaname had finally convinced him to lower his mask, the kid had reached for it. To his surprise, Hyakkimaru didn’t try to pull it away. Instead of taking it, the child only tipped it around in his hands.

“How come you like that mask so much?” he asked again. “I mean, sure, they can be fun, but if I had to wear one all the time I’d want to take it off. I mean, how do you eat with it on?”

He supposed he should think about answering him, even if his best answer was really just a guess. But for the time being, he needed to focus on tending wounds and getting his old bandages off. He rested a hand on his shoulder to get his attention, and then ran a finger over the tie of his cloak. “All right, let’s get you checked over,” he said.

Hyakkimaru tapped his mask once, then released it, turning and angling himself towards Kaname. Once he had removed the cloak, Hyakkimaru shrugged out of his sleeves and allowed Kaname to check him for injuries. When he found none, he untucked a strip of his bandages, which Hyakkimaru took from him and began removing.

“How does he know what you’re saying? Or you know what he’s…you know?”

Ah. Right. On second thought, he probably should have offered an explanation _before_ he’d started.

“Most of it’s just part of being an older brother for as long as I have,” Kaname said, taking a small pot from his supplies. “The rest is because he knows this routine.”

“Oh, so you’ve been fighting those things for a long time, then, huh?” It may have been part of their conversation, but it almost sounded like he was speaking to Hyakkimaru again.

Part of him was tempted to ask if this kid was afraid of him, if that was why he preferred talking to Hyakkimaru instead. “Long enough, yes.”

“Man…” He slumped over, studying the mask in his hands. Then he jumped up. “Anyway, I’m Dororo and I hate owing people. So what should I do to pay you back for saving me?”

From where he was unwrapping the bandages on Hyakkimaru’s leg, Kaname paused. Actually, this worked out rather nicely.

He handed the pot to the child—Dororo. “If you could fill this with water, I’ll be heating it up to clean my brother’s bandages.”

And it would keep him occupied while they finished with the last of them.

Dororo took the pot, turning it over several times before he dashed off.

This shouldn’t have been so hard. It wasn’t like he never spoke out loud with Hyakkimaru. He supposed he just needed time to figure out what to make of this kid.

Once they’d removed the last strip, Kaname checked for any injury he’d missed before. But everything seemed normal. Aside from the new skin that now covered him, which really shouldn’t have been as strange as it was.

Well, he supposed they’d best finish up. Taking Hyakkimaru’s sleeve, he tried to help him slip back into his kimono, only for Hyakkimaru to pull away, holding out his hand as if expecting—oh!

“You don’t need new bandages this time,” Kaname said, taking his hand and running it over his own cheek, and then Hyakkimaru’s.

He copied the gesture, but he wasn’t sure that he understood his meaning.

This time, he touched Hyakkimaru’s cheek with his own fingers, hoping he would feel the difference from before, but he was met with that same stare. Then he held out his hand for new bandages.

How could he make him understand it was different this time? He started to take his hand to write in the dirt, but then a memory came to him. His brother as a tiny child, too small for his age, smashed against his new prosthetic. This might work better, actually.

Sitting himself beside him so that his left leg was against Hyakkimaru’s right, he bent his knee at the same angle. He could already see the realization dawning on him—and wasn’t that strange, to see it in his face rather than just in his body. Then he took his hand a second time, first tapping it against his own leg, then against Kaname’s. Then against his cheek, then against Kaname’s.

Hyakkimaru stopped, tapping against his own cheek, then his shoulder, then his leg. Then he stopped and looked at Kaname.

“That’s right,” he said. “You have skin now, so you don’t need to wear your bandages all the time.”

This time, he allowed Kaname to help him back into his kimono.

* * *

Dororo filled the pot as much as he could, then slowly walked it back to the others. He kinda thought the older brother wasn’t too sure of him. That was fine. It wasn’t like _he_ was so sure of him either. But the guy with the swords seemed to like him well enough, since he let him hold his mask and all.

So he figured Mr. Older Brother was just going to have to put up with him.

He headed back and set the water pot in front of them, careful not to slosh too much out.

“I guess you need a fire, too, huh?" This one, he directed towards the older brother. “I can do that, too. I’m good at starting fires.”

That ended up being the way things worked for the next few hours or so. Dororo built the fire, he and the mask-brother would watch as the older brother heated the water over it. He put the bandages in, then somewhere in there he decided they were clean, and then when he’d finished with them, Dororo would run get more water. There must have been enough bandages for a whole body! The mask-brother really _had_ grown skin right in front of him!

Finally, he had to break the silence. “Hey, I gave you my name, but I don’t know either of yours.” He’d figured the way that worked was he gave his, and they were supposed to give theirs. That had been a dangerous mistake. A master thief couldn’t just go around giving out his name. Names gave people weapons to use against you, and getting arrested wasn’t exactly high on his list of things to do. “So who are you guys, anyway?”

“Kaname,” the older brother answered. “And my younger brother is Hyakkimaru.”

“Hyakkimaru, huh?” He guessed it fit better than mask-brother or Mr. No-Name. “Oh, wait! I forgot you can’t hear me! Hang on, uhh…”

He took Hyakkimaru’s hand and put it against his cheek. “I’m Dororo,” he said. “Do-ro-ro,” he spoke again, drawing out the syllables to help him feel it. Wait, _could_ he feel it with his hands made of wood? It didn’t really seem fair that he had to be the only one who didn’t know everyone’s name. But he didn’t want to just give up and ask Kaname to do it for him. Oh!

“Hey, you see something when you fight demons, right? So if I do something like…” Dororo took Hyakkimaru’s hand and waved it in three small circles. That was kind of what his name sounded like, right?

All the while, Hyakkimaru just sat there watching him. His face didn’t even change. How would he know what he was getting and what he wasn’t?

When Hyakkimaru finally stood, Dororo felt panic welling up inside him. No, he couldn’t just give up and ask—

But instead, he turned and walked towards the nearby stream, taking off one of his forearms. Oh, wait. That might be worse!

“Woah! What is it? Another demon?” Despite the grin he could feel on his face, Dororo thought his heart might explode on the spot.

“Don’t worry,” Kaname called after him. “There’s no danger. Not from demons, at least.”

Dororo wanted to snap at him. _How would you know?_

“He’s not moving the way he does when he suspects demons.” Kaname didn’t even look up from his work.

“Hmm?” Didn’t look so different to Dororo. Though he guessed maybe, yeah, sure. It wasn’t like he was running and jumping now.

Suddenly, he stabbed into the water once, twice, and came up with two fish.

“Woah!” He could fish with the swords, too? “That’s so cool!”

As he continued spearing the fish, Dororo stood back on the bank of the stream so he wouldn’t scare the rest as he hopped up and down.

“You’ve got some talent, Hyakkimaru! If you team up with me, we could make some real money off of that! And I mean _real_ money! Whaddya say?”

There was a small huff of laughter behind him.

“I’m serious!” Dororo resisted the urge to puff out his cheeks and pout. “What do you do?” he asked.

When Kaname didn’t answer, Dororo continued. “Well, you probably need tools, right? Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to replace ‘em or fix ‘em whenever you wanted? Or be able to get food if you have a slow day in your work? There’s a ton of things you can do with money!”

He was about to continue his argument, but Hyakkimaru stood up. And started to bring one of the fish to his mouth.

“Aah! Don’t do that!” Dororo started to pull him back towards the fire. “Let me cook them first!”

When they made their way back to the fire, Kaname had taken the boiling bandages off. Dororo slid the fish off of Hyakkimaru’s sword and fixed them at the ends of several sticks, situating those along the edge of the fire. To his relief, neither of the brothers said anything about it.

He watched Kaname nudge Hyakkimaru’s shoulder, grinning lightly. “I hear you tried to eat your catch fresh out of water again.”

“ _Again!?”_ Dororo ignored the uncomfortable twinge in his chest. Obviously Hyakkimaru had to use their other way of talking. Just it would be nice if Mr. Older Brother could explain more of it.

“Ah,” Kaname glanced away for a moment, running his hand against his arm. “It’s been awhile since he last attempted it. Since before we left home, even.”

“Mm…” Home wasn’t really something he wanted to talk about.

“Do you want me to look at your hand for you?” Kaname asked after some time. “I had noticed it seemed bruised earlier. I probably should have asked before making you carry the water pot…”

Almost against his will, suspicion sprang up inside of him. “What, are you a doctor or something?”

* * *

For now, at least, the little soul had chosen to stick around. Hyakkimaru was more than relieved about that. Since this little soul didn’t seem to have a big soul or even anyone like Kaname, it was much better for them to stay nearby, where Hyakkimaru could keep demons away from them. And because little souls needed big souls to help them get food, it was not good for them to be alone.

Besides that, the little soul didn’t seem to be afraid of him. Their aura was filled with questions, but it didn’t seem like bad questions. Not the way that made Big Soul put a firm hand on his back and made their auras protective over his. It was still so strange, the way a soul could almost do that sometimes, because it didn’t change their shape. He knew because sometimes Big Soul and Kaname had done it while holding him, and he didn’t feel them shift. Also, he had felt the same feeling sometimes, and he knew his body didn’t change.

The little soul seemed to like Hyakkimaru well enough, even with the questions. Their aura would go bright as they moved and waved around him. Maybe the little soul had their own motions for communicating? That would make sense of why they were always bobbing and moving or why they tried to take his hands. But maybe they could also at least understand vibrations, because Kaname didn’t use the same motions.

He watched as Kaname stood and went over to the little soul, asking for their hand. Something in their aura shrank back, but they gave it anyway. It must have been hurt, the way Kaname turned it over.

Had that been what the little soul was trying to tell him earlier? Maybe they landed wrong when he threw them away from the river earlier? Was that what the three circles meant? Kaname would be able to fix that. Then maybe the little soul’s aura would stop shrinking around them.

But before they’d done the circles with his hand, they did something else. They had taken Hyakkimaru’s hand and put it to their cheek.

Oh! Hyakkimaru knew what that meant. It was the same as when Big Soul was teaching him new words. His hand would be put on something and then they would write it on the ground. Maybe this was the little soul’s name? Three Circles? That must be their name.

Hyakkimaru watched as Kaname finished wrapping Three Circles’ hand. They’d probably check for other injuries next. That was what always happened when it was him. He was pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to watch, since he usually left when Big Soul did that back home.

While he was waiting for them to finish, Hyakkimaru took his mask back into his hands, turning it over. Running his fingers over the gaps for his eyes, nose, mouth.

Skin meant he didn’t need it anymore. Meant he didn’t have to wear bandages anymore. Unless he got hurt, of course. Meant he was the same as Kaname, but also different.

But it still meant he didn’t need his mask anymore. He knew he should be happy about that. He _was_ happy about not having to wear bandages. And about one less demon trying to eat him.

But what was he supposed to do with his mask? He couldn’t keep wearing it. It wouldn’t fit right with his skin. Was he supposed to throw it away?! But they didn’t throw his old bandages away… They cleaned the bandages in a pot with water and fire.

Maybe they could just wash his mask, too? Would Kaname let him do that when he didn’t need it anymore?

Something was suddenly shoved in his face and he jumped back. There was a tiny lift in Three Circles’ soul. If he focused, they were holding a dull green soul. Oh! He saw Three Circles put the fish he caught on some of those, then put them on the fire. Like when Big Soul cooked crabs.

The fish soul wasn’t there anymore. That meant it was all cooked.

Reaching his hand about where it had been shoved into his face, Hyakkimaru felt along where the stick disappeared. It seemed about the right size. Three Circles handed him the stick and went to get one of the others.

Obviously Three Circles thought he knew what it was. Neither of them stopped him as he brought it to his mouth and took a tiny, experimental bite.

Ah. Yes, it was fish.

As the three of them ate, something evened out in Kaname and Three Circles’ souls. This was good. Then from here, they would slowly even out until it was time to sleep.

He hoped Three Circles would stay around after that time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tons of stuff shifting around at once, too much to think about, all of it important. Wait, does anyone even have names? Or something like that.
> 
> I had originally intended for this to be another two-POV section, but this ended up being the way it worked. Throwing Kaname into the mix ended up affecting the first meeting between Dororo and Hyakkimaru a lot more than I'd thought. With Hyakkimaru, he felt fairly easy to write, since many of his reactions to people, particularly in the early episodes, seemed to be something like "wait and observe until I know how I'm supposed to react." The only thing that might change in this AU would be that he might take some of his cues off of Kaname, and might be more prone to expecting people to understand the kinds of communication he uses.
> 
> But then with Dororo and Kaname, on one end, we've got someone who doesn't generally seem to trust adults, and on the other, someone who may not fully feel "like an adult" and isn't really used to interacting with people outside of a doctor-patient context. And at times, may have some regrets about not working out a system of communication for Hyakkimaru that can be readily understood by people outside his own family unit. He does have writing, and can technically make a grammatically correct sentence, but this isn't used as often because it takes longer for him to work out. And, of course, there's the problem of most people not knowing how to read.
> 
> To be honest, I thought I was going to get to Bandai in this chapter, but we might be a chapter or two off from that still. 
> 
> It's also occurred to me that in the previous chapter, Hyakkimaru did make the connection that his mask didn't sit properly anymore because he had skin now or at least that his face was like Kaname's. I don't think he forgot that he has skin now, but as I was writing, I did think that he may not have gone all the way from "I also have skin now" to "that means I don't need bandages." Or to the implication that he might not get to keep his mask.
> 
> In any event, please let me know what you think!  
> ~Rin


	4. Questions, Comments, Concerns, and Closure

It probably would have been a good time to sneak away, when he’d jolted awake from a nightmare. Dororo hated that he could never remember them, almost more than the fact that he had them in the first place. If you didn’t even know what you were afraid of, then you might as well be afraid of everything. And Dororo certainly was _not_ afraid of everything.

What was worse, having nightmares meant other people could see you were afraid, and because you were asleep, you couldn’t stop it. If you were in the wrong place, it gave people weapons to use against you. If you didn’t remember them, then you couldn’t even guess what they might use.

Kaname hadn’t been awake at that time. At least, not as far as he could tell. He wasn’t so sure about Hyakkimaru.

He couldn’t help the tiny sigh that slipped out. It didn’t seem like Kaname was dangerous. _Help me wash my brother’s bandages_ was hardly a tall order, and not really much of a price for saving his life. And he’d even let the pot cool down before sending him back for more water.

Only then he’d gone and bandaged up his hand, and Dororo wasn’t sure where that fit into things. Yeah, it hurt, but was that just payment for cooking up the fish? Did it still count when Hyakkimaru had been the one to catch them?

Or maybe Hyakkimaru had been trying to pay him back for helping with his mask before that. So were they even or not?

This was just getting weird. Dororo blamed his nightmare. It was easy enough when he didn’t remember it.

If he didn’t stick around, he told himself, then he couldn’t get that extra sword. And he wanted that sword.

Besides, he thought as he settled back down, if he ran off in the middle of the night, someone would have to explain why to Hyakkimaru.

When he woke up the following morning, Hyakkimaru and Kaname were already up. Apparently Hyakkimaru had found some berries in a nearby bush, and Kaname had helped him divide them up for the three of them.

Dororo didn’t tell him that Hyakkimaru’s being the one to find them was the only reason he was eating them. He already knew that would lead to his asking what got him so jumpy, and _that_ would lead to his having to explain the nightmares he couldn’t remember.

“How’s your hand doing?” Kaname asked.

Somehow he managed not to choke on his food.

“I don’t know. I just woke up,” he said through a half-chewed mouthful.

Instead of snapping at him to watch his tone, Kaname only laughed. “I suppose that’s true. Then I guess it’s not hurting you right now. Will you let me know if it starts hurting?”

Beside him, Hyakkimaru was quietly rocking back and forth. Not a big motion, but something about it was calming to watch. He’d have to keep an eye on that, see if he ever did it when there was danger. But for now, it seemed like maybe kind of an okay thing.

Still, Dororo gave a nonchalant, “I don’t know. What makes you think I’ll stick around that long?”

A hint of concern flashed across his face. Though he hid it well enough afterwards, it had still been there. “Oh. I suppose I shouldn’t have assumed. It’s just that you’ve stayed with us so far, and you seem to get along well enough with my little brother. Not to mention, there seem to be at least a few powerful demons around, and…”

“Yeah, I get it. I was just making conversation!” Dororo waved his hand, drawing another half-suppressed chuckle from Kaname. “Quit laughing! I’m serious!” he snapped.

“Of course.” Kaname only smiled this time, moving to begin picking up their campsite.

There was a wooden hand on his head, and then Hyakkimaru was up, following after Kaname, taking and moving things he handed him. Maybe this was another of those routines he knew.

Which felt…weird. Not that he had them so much, just… Dororo couldn’t help thinking it would be better if it had just been Hyakkimaru and not Kaname, except that then he wouldn’t have gotten his hand fixed and he’d still be calling him Mr. No-Name or something like that. But now Dororo felt _weird_ , like he didn’t quite fit and didn’t know what he was supposed to do.

Stuffing the last of his food into his mouth, Dororo hopped up and decided to follow Hyakkimaru around.

“So you’re chasing demons, right? How many did you get so far?”

“Of the ones that have his body? Two.” Kaname tapped his cheek once, and then his right leg once.

Wait. Had that always been a wooden leg?

“Aside from them, I’m not sure how many he’s gotten.”

“Woah, that many?!” Dororo stopped and thought about that for a moment. “Do you know before you kill them which are which?” Maybe that was too much to ask.

Kaname stopped, turning to study Hyakkimaru. “He might. But as for me, I don’t know until he’s finished with it.”

“You didn’t ask?”

“Well, he’s only killed two so far that have them.” Dororo didn’t see why that would be a problem. “I’ll have to ask sometime when we’ve got a spare moment and some dirt.”

Just what did that even meant? At that moment, Dororo decided they were _both_ complete weirdos. So he guessed he’d just have to stick around for a bit until he figured them out.

Besides, he still needed to pay Hyakkimaru back for this morning’s food. And take that third sword.

* * *

It had been a much bigger relief that Dororo had chosen to stay with him and Hyakkimaru than…not really more than he _cared_ to admit, but perhaps more than he _could_ admit. At least for now.

While some of that was because Hyakkimaru seemed to get along with him well enough, and Kaname didn’t particularly like the idea of having to explain why the first person he’d really even tried to befriend had run off and left, he couldn’t pretend that was all. The idea of that kid running off threatened to fill him with anxiety, whether because of the memory of his little brother’s danger-prone childhood, or other reasons he didn’t much want to think about.

But he could already guess how Dororo would take that. He was just a bit _too_ independent for how young he was, and that was concerning in and of itself.

For the first time since they’d left Jukai, Kaname hoped that Hyakkimaru wouldn’t pick up on that anxiety and react to it, and he wasn’t sure how to explain that to him. There wasn’t anything wrong with it. Not ordinarily. There wasn’t even anything wrong with it here, not really. But if _Dororo_ asked what he was doing and he had to explain what it meant, and Dororo picked up on _why_ Hyakkimaru was thinking that…

His thoughts were cut off when a sudden force crashed into his side, and he had to stumble with Hyakkimaru to avoid losing his balance. Too late.

Although he continued pushing him, he didn’t seem to want to wrestle. As soon as Kaname pushed back, he stood and simply leaned against him.

“I guess you’re right,” he said with a laugh. “I am overthinking things, aren’t I?”

It wouldn’t be that easy to stop, but he rubbed an appreciative hand over his shoulder even so.

Behind them, Dororo huffed loudly. “Is this a game or is it more of those ‘being an older brother’ things?”

“Something like that.” Actually, it was more of a “being a younger brother” thing. He would explain later, once he’d had some time to figure out how.

As he took one final sweep over what had been their campsite, he noticed Dororo tugging on Hyakkimaru’s arm, then putting his mask back into his hands once he held it out.

“All right, then,” he said to them. “Ready to head out?”

In response, he got an exaggerated shrug and a dramatic sigh as Dororo took Hyakkimaru’s hand and started pulling him along. “I _guess_. What would we even do here anyway?”

The remainder of their day had been surprisingly uneventful. No demons had attacked them, and Kaname wished he could have known whether or not he _should_ have been surprised by this. He supposed that this could make sense. There had been some time between Hyakkimaru’s recovery of his leg and when they had attacked next, hadn’t there?

Besides, Hyakkimaru didn’t seem particularly concerned about it, and for this kind of thing, it was probably best to take their cues from him. Though at least part of Hyakkimaru’s lack of concern might have had something to do with the fact that their newest member was hovering around him, chattering away even though he knew he couldn’t hear him, sometimes pulling him around to look at things he spotted on the way. But still, if there was danger, he didn’t tend to ignore it. There was no reason that should be any different now.

And because Hyakkimaru was the one who knew best how to search for the demons, Kaname let himself drop back a bit. Not enough to alarm his little brother, but enough that he wouldn’t be quite as constant a presence to Dororo while still seeing where Hyakkimaru led them.

For some time, this was how they continued. Occasionally, Hyakkimaru would find something he wanted to watch, but more often than not, it seemed he was currently preoccupied with Dororo.

It was still so strange, seeing the shifting of his expressions. How sometimes, his brow would pinch or his mouth would open or his eyes widen slightly, and other times, his face would seem completely blank. Stranger still was how Dororo didn’t seem to notice.

But whenever his expression changed, Kaname found himself watching to see if and where he was holding tension. He ran a hand through his hair and released a breath. There was no reason to be so nervous about this.

So far, he seemed fine.

Dororo had asked for his mask again. Which had also been fine. He’d had no problem letting him hold onto it before.

And then Dororo had given it an experimental spin on his finger. And then figured out how to keep it spinning, beaming widely as he followed it around to do so.

And something about that made Hyakkimaru freeze. Not quite on the level of locking up, but enough to make it clear he didn’t like it and didn’t know how he should stop it.

Kaname forced himself to wait for a moment. He had one gesture which could serve his purpose, but it was the one he’d always had trouble remembering. As often as he’d thought Jukai pushed him too hard, it was equally unfair to step in and help him too early.

After a moment, he almost managed it, or at least he started what looked like it could have been that gesture. But Dororo either didn’t notice or misunderstood. 

“Hey, Hyakkimaru, are you okay?” Kaname asked, stepping over and pressing a hand on his shoulder.

It might still be better to try and get Dororo to notice on his own.

“Huh?” he paused, catching the mask as it came to a stop. “Something wrong?”

Almost as soon as it stopped, Hyakkimaru released a tiny sigh. Dororo’s eyes drifted between his face and his hands.

“Oh! I guess you want this back, huh?” He pushed the mask into his hands and bent his fingers around it. “Heh. No harm done, right?”

He was watching for something. If he was looking for signs that Hyakkimaru was angry, he wouldn’t find them.

Seconds later, they were back to wandering through the trees as if nothing had happened.

* * *

When they had settled into their new spot for the night, Hyakkimaru had wanted to go looking for more food, but Kaname had decided they would eat from the food Big Soul had sent with them.

Maybe Kaname was worried about a demon attacking them while he was hunting. It had been awhile since the last attack, so he could see why they might expect one now. It didn’t really make sense that it had been so long unless the demons were scared because he’d killed a strong one. But how would demons _here_ know he’d done that? But then, Kaname had always had a harder time sensing demons than he did. Maybe that was why.

Or maybe it was something they had to do differently now that Three Circles was here. Probably there were lots of things that had to change when there were little souls around. Hadn’t a lot been different for him when he was little?

Was it different for little souls with no prosthetics? If their bodies hadn’t been taken by demons, it almost had to be. Even though demons might still go after them because they were small.

So Hyakkimaru had decided to follow Kaname’s lead for the evening, and they divided some of the food between the three of them.

Three Circles had fallen asleep shortly after that, and Kaname had written down _calm evening_. Which was nice, but it also reminded him how much he missed home. They really should have brought Big Soul.

That familiar pressure was back again as Kaname rubbed a hand along his shoulder. Hyakkimaru let himself lean against them and rocked slightly from side to side. Not enough to bump or push Kaname, and not enough to pull away, but still enough that they could feel it.

Faint vibrations came from Kaname’s chest, and they tapped a finger on his mask and cheek. Small questions rose in their soul, and Hyakkimaru copied the motion, then started tracing it. His skin felt okay. The wrong feelings were gone and he didn’t feel pain, so unless Kaname thought he needed bandages, he was fine.

Kaname tapped his mask again and more concerned questions came up. Oh. Was this about what happened with Three Circles earlier? He made three circles with his hand, then tapped his mask. Kaname tapped his mask and nodded.

He curled his fingers around it, not knowing how to answer that. Of course, he knew Three Circles didn’t mean to upset him. He didn’t know why they had tried to spin his mask, but their soul hadn’t had any malice, and they _had_ given it back when they realized it upset him, and their soul had dimmed with regret and concern.

But he didn’t know why it upset him either. Skin meant he didn’t really _need_ it anymore, and even if he did, spinning it couldn’t break it. It just…didn’t seem like something you should do with it.

Kaname’s hand squeezed his shoulder again. It was okay. He didn’t have to know the answer.

But once he had lied down to sleep, he started to wonder if there was something else he should be doing with the mask. He didn’t really want to get rid of it, but Big Soul had never kept his old limbs lying around. He knew this because the house had never filled with old faded limbs for him to trip over. But they didn’t burn the limbs either, which was not something Hyakkimaru thought any of them would like anyway. They didn’t cut them up and use them for new ones, because Hyakkimaru could always remember seeing when Big Soul and Kaname were working on them, which meant they had to be new limbs made of new wood.

So what _did_ they do with them?

He traced his fingers around the edge and over the openings for his eyes, nose, mouth.

Sometimes Big Soul buried faded souls once they were completely gone. Sometimes Kaname did that, too. (Only when Kaname did it, they were supposed to tell Big Soul _NO BODY_ so that they wouldn’t worry.) Usually it was because he had killed a demon, but that didn’t have to only be for demons, did it? Couldn’t it be for other faded souls, too?

Hyakkimaru didn’t think he’d ever seen Big Soul or Kaname bury old prosthetics, but there was no reason he couldn’t do that, was there? Maybe he could ask Kaname about it in the morning when they got up. But what if something happened in the morning and then he couldn’t ask? What if the demons were back then? Or something else happened that distracted him?

Better to do it now while he knew he had time.

Pushing himself to his feet, Hyakkimaru searched the area until he found a space where the dirt gave way. It would be easier with a shovel. Probably it would even be easier with his old hands that didn’t have fingers.

But after awhile, he had made a small hole in the ground. It wasn’t big enough to fit his mask yet, but the dirt was moving easier now. Just as long as he kept what he had dug in the same spot, he would be able to find it again when it was time to cover it.

There was another presence in the trees, but it didn’t seem to be a demon. It wasn't red and it didn't feel like a demon besides that. It wasn’t the same as a person, but it was closer to that than anything else. It watched him, doing something with a thing it held, but it didn’t try to stop him.

After a minute or so, it walked away. That was strange. Had it needed something? But if it did, it must not have realized he couldn’t use vibrations to communicate. It should have asked Kaname for help. Or used motions. Hyakkimaru went back to digging. Maybe it would find someone else who could help.

Seconds later, Three Circles and Kaname were up. At first, Three Circles’ aura was spiked with fear, but then that settled into questions.

Suddenly, he felt a little embarrassed. Why? This _was_ something he needed to do. It wasn’t like he was doing something wrong.

Kaname didn’t touch his shoulder, but there was that same feeling of comfort and calmness. Maybe Kaname was helping Three Circles understand.

Then Three Circles was up, darting through the trees. Their soul didn’t seem scared or disgusted, and Kaname’s soul didn’t flare protective over his, so it must have been okay. And a minute or so later, Three Circles was back, pushing a large green soul into his hand.

Oh. It must have been a branch from a tree.

Something bright flashed through Kaname’s soul, and then they motioned him up and pushed the branch into his hands. They took his hands and shoved the end of the branch down several times, hitting the dirt and scraping it.

Oh! He could use it like a shovel even though it wasn’t one. He’d meant to finish this quickly before they woke up, but now that they were awake, there was no reason not to use the shovel-branch.

When he had gotten it as wide and deep as he needed it, Hyakkimaru went back to his knees. Running his fingers over the mask one more time, he placed it inside the hole. There was something almost a little sad about watching it disappear as he pushed the dirt back over it. But it wasn’t as though he was putting Big Soul in the dirt.

Once he had finished, he patted the dirt over where his mask had been. Where it still was, even though he couldn’t see it anymore. Three Circles copied his motion, watching him with a sort of happy question inside their aura.

He watched the spot a little longer. Yes, this would be fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The scene at the end with Hyakkimaru burying the mask was largely inspired by several scenes in the manga, in which he would bury his old prosthetics, and at least part of his motivation for doing so seemed to be out of respect for Jukai. At the end of the chapter, "The Face Tumor," he is shown using what looks like a large branch to dig a grave for his old hand (I mean, unless a shovel got pulled out of hammerspace and was just only shown by its handle. It's a 60's series, so it's possible).
> 
> I had also contemplated splitting this chapter, so that the mask grave would be the first part of the next chapter, but ultimately, this day felt like it was all one chapter when I finished it.
> 
> In any event, please let me know what you think!  
> ~Rin


	5. That Clinking Clanking Sound

Of all the ways he’d ever started his mornings, being woken up by a weird chiming sound and then finding a guy burying his mask wasn’t one of them. Hyakkimaru didn’t even have anything that made that kind of noise, anyway. So just where did that creepy bell come from?

And then there was still the whole burying the mask thing. Dororo guessed it wasn’t _that_ weird. If he’d found a lot of money or something, he’d probably bury it somewhere safe, too. Only a mask wasn’t money (and with the hole in the nose it probably wouldn’t fetch much of a price). Kaname said, “It must be something he needs to do,” but it didn’t seem like he knew any better.

So it wasn’t something he’d done before. Probably it was one of those “he might tell you sometime” things.

Dororo wasn’t sure why he’d gotten the stick. Yeah, it would make it easier, but beyond that… Maybe he was hoping it would start making sense if he helped. It didn’t, but there was something oddly satisfying about patting down the dirt. And maybe a little sad.

Wait…he didn’t do that just because of what Dororo did earlier, did he? He’d just thought it would be a cool trick. That was all.

But Kaname seemed to think Hyakkimaru was happy with burying it, so it probably wasn’t a good idea to dig it up and give it back. Not to mention it would make no sense. Why would he give him a big branch and help him dig just to undo all his work later?

Still, it wasn’t like he was going to ask Kaname to ask him why he did it. And he didn’t know how to ask Hyakkimaru something like that, either.

When he woke up several hours later with one of their cloaks thrown over him, he nearly jumped out of his skin. Maybe it was just their way of saying what happened yesterday was okay. Dororo didn’t know.

But he also kinda felt like maybe he should do something. Not because he felt _bad_ about the mask anymore, but just because…because he said he could help Hyakkimaru make money off of his demon-slaying, and Kaname didn’t believe him. So that meant he was just going to have to prove it!

Right now, they were preoccupied. Maybe Kaname was explaining something. Or Hyakkimaru was.

Dororo didn’t plan to go far, and he was pretty sure Hyakkimaru at least wouldn’t let them leave without him. But still… It wouldn’t hurt to keep that cloak as a little collateral. Just in case.

He headed down the path, ready to bolt if he needed to. Before long, he came to a small village. Huh. He guessed he shouldn’t be too surprised. Whoever had that bell had to have come from somewhere.

The town didn’t seem to be too bad off from the looks of it. A couple repairs here and there, but nothing falling apart. Which meant these people had money. Or at least some of them had money. Or at least _someone_ had money. And that meant they could be paid.

All that was left was to find out if they had a demon problem.

So Dororo figured the best way to do that was to ask. He looked for someone who seemed like they knew what was going on, and his gaze settled on a tall man with a thin mustache and a narrow point of a beard. He had on a hat and looked like he’d been putting up with way too much crap lately. Bingo.

“Excuse me, mister,” he said in his best polite voice. “Would you happen to know if there are any monsters around here in need of slaying?”

Instantly, the man’s face was both concerned and relieved. “How did you know?” he asked. “There’s one that’s stalked around these parts for months!”

Well, that was easy. Almost too easy. Dororo hid his surprise, straightening himself up and putting his hands on his hips. “Well, as a matter of fact, I’m the spokesperson of a professional demon slayer! When you’re in the demon-slaying business, you get a nose for these things, you know.” It was maybe a little bit of a stretch, but the brothers would thank him later.

“Are you?” the man asked. “But I don’t see anyone with you.”

Ah, right, that. “That’s because I scout ahead. These demon slayers tend to be particular, after all. They can’t just walk into a town where they might not find any work.”

The man waved a hand. “Fine, fine. He can have his little oddities as long as you’re sure he can help us.”

So far, so good. “He most certainly can!” He paused, then put on his best thoughtful face. “There’s just one more thing…See, because we’re pros, we can’t just work for nothing…”

“I’ll pay you whatever you want! Just bring him here and get it slayed! Then I’ll let you decide how much it’s worth!”

Wow. That wasn’t hard at all. Maybe he should have met a demon slayer sooner. Or maybe this guy was just really _that_ desperate. “You’ve got yourself a deal!”

As he headed back up the path, Dororo put on an extra burst of speed. “Hey guys! Wait ‘til you hear what I found! There’s another—”

“Dororo!” He startled as Kaname suddenly cut him off. “We were worried sick about you! I thought…” Kaname shook his head. “In any event, we’re glad you’re not…” He paused in the middle of some kind of gesture. “Hold on. You’re not hurt, are you?”

“…No?” Huh. He’d been this close to shouting, but for some reason it hadn’t sounded angry.

“Oh, good.” Beside Kaname, Dororo noticed Hyakkimaru give a little sigh. Really, how _did_ he know what they were saying? “You had me worried. Hyakkimaru kept asking where you were.”

“Oh…” Dororo’s shoulders dropped. But he quickly shook it off. That was okay! He’d more than make it up. “Well, I went to the village up ahead, and it turns out they’ve got a demon they need us to get. _And_ they’re willing to pay us!”

“You did what?” Before Kaname could question him any further, Dororo grabbed onto Hyakkimaru’s hand and pulled him in the direction of the village.

Hyakkimaru allowed Dororo to lead him, and Kaname followed even if he looked more than a little skeptical about this whole thing. There was really nothing to worry about!

“Don’t worry,” he said. “It seemed like a pretty nice village, and the guy I talked to practically begged for anyone who could get the demon. They’ll probably feed us, too, so you don’t even have to worry about food! Of course, with your payment, there’s some things we have to think about, like if you end up needing repairs on…”

“Hm? What is it?” Kaname’s question wasn’t for him.

A second later, he realized why he’d asked. Dororo nearly tripped from Hyakkimaru’s abrupt stop. Was he watching something? Craning his neck, Dororo tried to look in that same direction. He didn’t see anything. What was so great about empty forest?

Then Hyakkimaru turned and walked on. Huh. Must really _have_ been just empty forest.

Well, the sooner they got into the village, the sooner they got fed and killed the demon, and then he could stare at nothing all he wanted.

Some of the villagers had gathered in the center of town. Out of the corner of his eye, Dororo thought he saw Kaname and maybe Hyakkimaru hesitate.

“Is this the demon-slayer you were talking about?” The pointy-beard man asked, indicating Kaname.

The hell? He didn’t even have a sword! “Nah, he’s just the doctor. The one _you_ want is this guy!” He tugged Hyakkimaru forward, but he planted his feet so he didn’t go more than a step.

“Him?” Mr. Pointy-Beard startled, then schooled his expression into a placating look. “Oh, but…are you certain he can manage it?”

“We are.” Dororo jumped at the sudden, barely-concealed hostility in Kaname’s voice, and he peered around to see his hand draped across Hyakkimaru’s back and gripping his shoulder. The look on his face was firm, not quite challenging, but definitely ready to go there.

His pulse quickened. He’d never seen Kaname like that. Crap. If a fight broke out or that other guy tried to argue, they’d lose their money and their food.

Puffing himself up, Dororo grinned widely. “Absolutely! Why, just the other day, he got a huge river demon that was so big a bridge couldn’t hold it! I was right there when it happened! And he’s got plenty of others besides that! I could tell you _so_ many stories…”

Did these people think he was stupid? He could _see_ them making doubtful faces and whispering. Fine, then. Two could play at this game.

“But, if you don’t think we should handle it, then I guess it must not bother you guys that much. We’ll just have to take our business to the next town, find someone who _actually_ needs our—”

“No, no, we’re not saying that! It really does cause entirely too much trouble here. If you think he can handle it, what does it hurt us to let him try?”

Was that better or not? Dororo didn’t dare look back at Kaname.

“In fact, why not have the three of you stay at my dwelling while you think about it?” Mr. Pointy-Beard rattled on. “There’s some room in my stable, and I’ll bring you some food, and mats to sleep on.”

“And once we kill the demon, we decide our fee, right?” Dororo reminded him. It wasn’t _really_ a question.

“If you do, yes,” he replied.

“All right then, chief! Lead the way!”

* * *

Three Circles and the other soul led them through the crowd. Kaname kept a hand across his back and on his shoulder. Hyakkimaru wasn’t sure why they were following the other soul. Bad questions moved around the edge of it, and something like regret, but softer and less…real? It felt uncomfortable, at least, and he wished he could believe that fake regret wasn’t aimed at him. But Kaname’s aura had taken on a hard edge, not quite _flaring_ protective, but the same feeling. Someone had told them something.

There was more of it from the crowd. Bad questions. Fake regret. Fear. Worry. Hyakkimaru wanted to leave this place. Maybe that soul that wasn’t a person had been trying to warn him about this.

They came to a structure and Kaname guided Hyakkimaru inside. The other soul moved and gestured at things, and Three Circles bobbed and waved in response. Kaname’s chest only made the occasional short vibration, but their aura didn’t lose its edge until after the other soul left. Then, he felt their hand rub up and down his arm as their aura flickered and evened out.

This part was more familiar. Hyakkimaru began moving about the space, learning where everything was and what was there. Lots of faded green things arranged in a shape he knew was called a pen. Inside it, there was a large soul with four legs and it was called…Oh. He didn’t know that one. But he felt excited questions building up and he went to Kaname, tugging their hands and pointing at the large thing.

A sort of calm amusement fluttered through them, almost like relief. As if Kaname needed something familiar, too. They took his hand, and against their palm, they wrote, _horse_. And then again. _Horse_. Until he could write it back several times.

Once he was satisfied that he understood, Hyakkimaru went back to the pen to watch the horse. Its soul spiked a little when he approached, but quickly faded back to calm. It didn’t do much, but sometimes parts of it would flick or it would turn or lower its head.

Behind him, a kind of question rose from Three Circles, and then it turned into something calm and happy. He wondered if Three Circles liked watching the horse, too.

By the time the Other Soul returned, Hyakkimaru had finished learning the space, and had gone back to sit with Kaname and Three Circles. The Other Soul brought some food, and watched with bad questions as Kaname took his hands and explained what each thing was. It wasn’t like there was anything wrong with it. Why shouldn’t he know what he was eating before he put it in his mouth? The Other Soul had also given them thin, faded green things called chopsticks to eat with, and Hyakkimaru felt a small panic spiking. His fingers didn’t work well with chopsticks. Did that mean he couldn’t eat this?

But Kaname pressed a hand against his shoulder, and then pressed something into his hand. Oh. It was the wooden spoon Big Soul had cut for him. Kaname must have guessed they might end up eating something like rice, then. He knew Kaname would have helped him otherwise, but…it was still nice to have something he could use himself.

Something smoothed out in the Other Soul, but somehow, it made Kaname’s aura spike over his. Was there such a thing as bad relief? Hyakkimaru wasn’t sure. He supposed there must have been, and he was glad when the Other Soul bowed and left.

When the three of them had settled down for the night, Hyakkimaru quickly realized he would likely not be sleeping. Watching the horse helped him to try to forget, but he kept feeling all the bad questions around him from earlier. Kaname tried to help him, running a hand over his hair and sending comfort through their aura, but there was some regret they couldn’t quite hide, too. And that was a little upsetting. It wasn’t Kaname’s fault they acted that way anymore than it had been Big Soul’s fault the demons had chased him.

Just then, something entered the stable, but it wasn’t the Other Soul. Kaname’s aura spiked with alarm and Three Circles jolted upright, trying to yank off his forearm. Why? It wasn’t dangerous. Just not human.

It watched him, and he tried to guess what it might mean, but there were too many feelings that were too faint, and Three Circles was flaring too much to focus on it. If it needed something, it needed to ask _Kaname_. Or use motions.

When it left, the Other Soul came back. Had they been following it?

Kaname was using vibrations and Three Circles was bobbing and gesturing, so they must have been discussing something. He expected to feel more bad questions, but instead there was fear, and something else, too. Almost…guilty? But it wasn’t directed at him. Did...the Other Soul know that thing?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, yes, plot. Almost forgot I was supposed to have one of those.
> 
> Most of the depiction of events in this chapter is pulled straight from the 2019 anime, with some expansions added and some things reordered to accommodate the previous chapters. The villagers do, verbally or otherwise, question Hyakkimaru's competence on being told he's the one who will slay the demon. I'm including these depictions because they are part of Hyakkimaru's experience with the world around him, so I thought it was important to look at how he feels about it. 
> 
> The horse thing ended up being something I wanted to establish sooner than it came up in canon, in part because I liked it and in part because I had wondered off and on if Hyakkimaru would have ever encountered one before that night in Denkichi's stable. While I don't think he would have felt comfortable enough to explore it in canon, here, I have a Kaname, so I thought here he might. 
> 
> Oh! And the spoon-thing. I couldn't find a record of that kind of soup spoon being in Japan at the time Dororo takes place, back when I was writing the first fic for this. I opted to have it anyway, in part because artistic license and I want it there, and in part because since Jukai studied medicine overseas, I figured it's possible he would have seen one and then remembered it when Hyakkimaru struggled to use chopsticks.
> 
> In any event, please let me know what you think!  
> ~Rin


	6. It Makes the World Go...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's an interaction between Kaname and a patient which may be distressing to some, owing to ableist language. It starts during the first part of Kaname's POV section and continues until the first double-spaced paragraph break.

In the morning, the Other Soul had come back. Three Circles’ aura had buzzed with questions, and they stood up and followed. There was something in there between fear and excitement. Maybe they were going to meet someone? Or find something else new?

Someone else came up. A few moments later, Kaname’s hand pressed against his shoulder, then moved down over his shoulder-blade. Hyakkimaru didn’t really want them to go, but if it was just for a little while, it might be okay. He tapped the same spot, then let his arm drop. There was a brief regret, and then Kaname went with that someone else.

Maybe it was actually better that way, though. The feeling of something wrong started creeping in again. Not the discomfort that he felt with the Other Soul, or the feeling of being watched by people or chased by a demon. Not even the Wrong Feelings that came when his leg or his skin grew in. But a feeling of something _Wrong._ And the last Wrong Thing had turned out to be a demon. If Hyakkimaru had to fight, it would be easier with fewer people to protect.

The Other Soul led them into a much bigger place than where they had stayed before, then stepped away. There was a lot of empty space he couldn't see. Some faint green in some of the walls. The kind of place he'd have to really focus during a fight. Though it was strange that the Other Soul just left them here. Why would someone do that? Were they trying to get them lost? But even if he couldn't see the doors, Three Circles would be able to find it. Or Kaname would come looking for them. Or he'd just feel along for the walls until he found a door (and maybe kick it down if he was annoyed enough by then). So that didn't make sense either. Were they meeting someone? But then why would the Other Soul leave?

No. Wait. The Wrong Thing was here. It was faint, hidden by something else or at least _trying_ to hide itself. It was surprisingly still for how much of it was visible. Didn't it know that part of it was sticking out? Even if the rest was covered, he could still see what must have been its tail. And if that was its tail, then it must have been at least a decently large demon.

On top of that, it was acting strangely. Not attacking yet, but it seemed to be studying them. And studying meant he didn’t have much time before…

He had to kill it now! Hyakkimaru unsheathed his swords, moving in front of Three Circles. The demon shifted but didn’t get up. Why not? Did it have some kind of powers so it didn’t have to? How would he fight something like that?

Suddenly, more souls were grabbing him, pulling him away. No! He had to stop the demon! There were too many people grabbing him! He wanted to thrash them off, but you weren’t supposed to kill humans and his swords made that too much of a risk.

Why didn’t they want him to get the demon? Wasn’t it going to kill them? Or…

* * *

The idea of leaving Hyakkimaru and Dororo to go and meet someone by themselves made Kaname more than a little uneasy. Especially with that Denkichi person being the one leading them. While Dororo didn’t seem too bad at redirecting the conversation, he was still just beginning to learn Hyakkimaru’s communications. Would they be able to get away if they needed to?

But, he had to ask himself, was this also one of those moments where he had to let him try it out on his own? And, if Kaname _didn’t_ go with the villager’s request, would that make them decide Hyakkimaru _couldn’t_ slay the demon after all? Why should the one have determined the other? Kaname hated this feeling.

Still, he allowed himself to be led in the direction of someone’s house. The residents had introduced themselves as Shuu and his wife, Tsuru, who was struggling with an injury to her leg.

As Kaname worked to examine and treat her, she had asked about Hyakkimaru. “I was unable to be there with my husband yesterday due to my injury, but I was told there was a boy you were traveling with. That he’s going to take care of the demon?”

“Ah, yes. Hyakkimaru. He’s my brother.” Kaname supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised she would try to make small talk.

“Oh? I don’t think my husband mentioned he was your brother.”

“It never came up.” Kaname wasn’t even sure why he needed to mention it now, really.

Tsuru smiled briefly. “Well, I certainly hope he’ll be able to deal with it. That creature has been stalking people around, attempting to lead them off past the bamboo thicket. I was careless fleeing it, and that was how I ended up like this. I was very fortunate that some of Lady Bandai’s attendants saw me and came to check.”

A demon fleeing just from being spotted? That seemed…odd. Sure, plenty had avoided him and Jukai, when they had stalked Hyakkimaru as a child, but not when they were already in pursuit.

“That is fortunate,” he said anyway. “Then, it’s started following people instead of merely luring them?”

A dark shadow passed over her face. “Oh, yes. In fact you might say it’s _returning_ to following people.” She paused. “I really shouldn’t be saying this, but it even attacked Lady Bandai shortly after she came to this town. There was…” she swallowed. “There was a traveler who died, and none of us could figure out how, but I think he resented her for being unable to save him. She does so much to help our village, but I guess he thought she should have done more. He came back as a demon and ruined her legs.”

“The demon used to be a person?” He…supposed that could be. He wasn’t as knowledgeable about them as Jukai, but at the same time, if demons lent humans their powers, it made sense that possession might be a side-effect.

“If you see it, you’ll know,” she answered him gravely. “It still almost looks human. Still almost talks like one, too. But you’re better off not seeing it. In fact, if you hear a bell, you should run. It especially hates travelers.”

A bell? Did she mean…? But Hyakkimaru had already met a creature with a bell, and he hadn’t reacted to it at all except for looking annoyed when it came up to him. Was there a different creature with a bell?

“Ah.” She nodded in understanding. “You must have spotted it, then. You must be extremely lucky. Even Lady Bandai lost her legs to it, after all, and most travelers aren’t even that fortunate.”

As Kaname measured out some medicine to ease swelling, something like anxious nausea suddenly built up in his skull. “If there’s anything I can do for her, I’ll have to make a visit.”

“Perhaps.” Tsuru shifted. “But…forgive me, but my husband mentioned a thing or two about your brother’s…condition. It might be for the best if you don’t stick around too long once this is dealt with, if you understand my meaning.”

“I…see.” Kaname’s hands felt numb as he tied off the pouch and shoved the original container back into his bag. He stumbled a bit as he went out the door, and if she heard the thunk of his prosthetic as he did, good. “Then take care.”

Shuu was just outside, and Kaname shoved the pouch into his hand. “If her leg starts swelling again, brew a few pinches of this and have her drink it.”

There was so much more he should have said. It shouldn’t even have been that much of a shock. He had heard the other villagers yesterday. Of _course_ she would say something like that. But at the same time, people weren’t quite so blatant about it, and if Kaname had spoken to them directly, most of them would have shut up and just avoided the subject.

He needed to find Hyakkimaru. With any luck, he would have found and killed the demon, and then they could leave.

Except. That was something else which wasn’t quite right. The demon. Hyakkimaru’s lack of reaction to it. It wasn’t like he went darting off after any and every stray ghoul, but Hyakkimaru didn’t leave the dangerous ones to their own devices, either. Not since he’d learned to identify them, and that had been years ago. Yet that woman seemed to think it was what was chasing people.

Was she lying? If so, she hadn’t given any indication of it. None that Kaname had picked up on, at least. So then, just what was going on with—

A loud crash jolted Kaname from his thoughts. Ah. Hyakkimaru must have found his demon.

Just when had Kaname started running _towards_ the commotion instead of away from it? But before he could think on that, there was another crunching sound, and then an unearthly screech, and someone shouting, though he couldn’t make out the words.

“The monster’s gone back to Lady Bandai’s!” someone yelled.

Several panicked cries flew up from the gathering crowd.

“After all this time…that’s it! This has gone on long enough!”

Great. Now Hyakkimaru was going to have help from a mob. Hopefully, he would finish this quickly, Kaname thought, following the crashing to this Bandai’s house. Naturally, he found Dororo and an old priest in the wreckage of a broken wall.

“Hey! Kaname!” Dororo waved him over, eyes wide. “Bandai turned into a demon and Hyakkimaru went after her! That Denkichi guy tried to drop a screen on him! We gotta go after them!”

The mysterious and generous village leader who arrived shortly before the monster attacks was a demon. Sure, why not.

“Did you see which way they went?” he asked.

The priest smiled, and in that moment, there was something somewhere in the way he looked at them which almost resembled…Hyakkimaru.

“If you’ll follow me,” he said, and began using his walking stick to lead them into the bamboo thicket.

A bell chimed, somehow audible over the monster’s growls. The three of them arrived just in time to see Hyakkimaru diving at it, burying his sword deep into its forehead.

With the amount of blood pouring from the wound, that should have been the end of it. But as the body dropped, the tail lifted. Bandages sloughed off and the perturbed face of the one they called Bandai appeared.

“No…it can’t be,” she whispered. “You.”

Something else was happening. Her body began to shift once more, growing fiercer and sharper. Her voice distorted with bloodlust. “How are you still alive?” she hissed. “Even if it failed to take you, another should have finished you off long ago!”

Dororo bit back a sound somewhere between a squeak and a growl, and Kaname moved in front of him. The priest tensed, ready for her to spring.

“Very well, then!” she snarled. “Let’s see if you can survi—”

Bandai was promptly cut off by a sword right between the eyes. Kaname breathed a sigh of relief. Of course Hyakkimaru wouldn’t have heard her, but if there had been any kind of shift in the things he sensed…

He shook his head and rushed over to check on him, only for Hyakkimaru to turn and spit his forearms out into his hands. Kaname laughed. “Glad to see you’re still feeling well enough.” But as soon as Hyakkimaru had wiped off the blood, he put them back on for him all the same. “Really, though. How _do_ you manage to keep those in your teeth so long?”

“Oh, no! Lady Bandai!” Kaname bristled as Denkichi cried out. Just why was he still here?

“Seriously?” Dororo beat him to the punch. “You _knew_ this whole time! I’m still not over that! How can you act like—”

That same bell from before cut him off. Denkichi flinched. That creature from before stood a short ways away, vanishing into the dirt as Dororo ran towards it and the others followed. For his part, Kaname would have preferred to finish tending Hyakkimaru’s injuries, but it seemed like he had other ideas. He stared off after Dororo, though it didn’t seem as if he wanted to go over with them. When Kaname gently nudged him in that direction, he took one step, then planted. Probably because Denkichi was there, if he had to guess.

“What the hell? It’s a ton of money!” With Dororo there, it wasn’t like they wouldn’t know what it was.

“From the travelers you let Bandai eat, right.” It may have been phrased like a question, but the priest’s remark was anything but.

“…Our village has no way of making money. When Lady Bandai first arrived, I thought all was lost.”

Hyakkimaru was suddenly pressing into him, and Kaname looked up to see more of the villagers arriving.

“But, the first traveler Lady Bandai ate had a lot of road money on him…”

“And you just couldn’t stop,” the priest finished.

In seconds, Dororo was up. “Seriously! What the hell is wrong with you people!”

Behind him, others were murmuring. “What? You mean Lady Bandai was the monster? That can’t be true!”

“No look!” A stocky man nudged the corpse. “The proof is right here.”

“I can’t believe it! All this time, the demon was living inside our village! And you would have just let it eat us—”

“No! No!” Denkichi held his hands up. “That’s not…A group of us had made an arrangement so that she would only eat—”

“So the money she lent us was stolen from _them!?_ ” someone shrieked.

Another sound of chiming rang out, and several of the villagers plugged their ears or fell to their knees. That bell…it must have belonged to that first traveler.

“We’ll have to decide what to do about this, of course,” an older man spoke up. “But in the meantime, one thing’s clear. We can’t risk any more demons setting up here.”

He turned to Hyakkimaru, and Kaname tightened the hold on his arm. “I’m sorry, but you’re have to leave.”

“ _You’ve got to be kidding me!_ ” Dororo was already back, angry and spitting. “After he just killed your demon? If he hadn’t showed up, you’d all still be—”

“I understand.” Kaname recognized that placating tone. “But we just can’t take any risks right now. We’ll still pay your for your service to us, but…”

“We don’t want it.” Kaname’s heart pounded in his ears. “I agree, _we_ can’t take any risks right now. It will be better for us to be on our way.” It was foolish, childish even. Refusing money they might need later. But the idea of accepting it made him feel like throwing up. “Brother.” He pressed his hand to Hyakkimaru’s mid-back, avoiding the spots where blood seeped into his cloak. “Dororo. Let’s go.”

Dororo glowered at everyone as he passed, but he followed them all the same, grabbing onto Hyakkimaru's hand.

As they headed out, the priest joined them. “I’ll walk with you for a bit. Think I might know this one,” he said, using his walking stick to indicate Hyakkimaru.

“That’s fine.” In that moment, Kaname didn’t trust himself to say anything more.

A ways away from the village, Hyakkimaru had suddenly crashed into Kaname, not quite pushing, and not quite playing if the worry in his face was any indication, but he still scuffled back when Kaname grabbed his arms. “All right, all right.” He smiled with a shake of his head. “Let’s not get too rough before we get your wounds fixed u—”

He was cut off when Hyakkimaru suddenly recoiled, eyes wide, face going from concerned to terrified as he pressed his hands to his face, mouth open in a silent scream. Was he getting something back or was something going horribly, _horribly wrong?_

Hyakkimaru dropped to his knees as Dororo cried out. “Hey! What’s wrong? Are you okay? Hang in there!” He tried to reach out to him, but Kaname blocked him from it. _He doesn’t like being touched until it’s over_ , he wanted to explain. But he wasn’t even sure that that’s what this _was_ , and it was taking far longer than the one he’d watched. Even if Hyakkimaru panicked afterwards, he shouldn’t still have been…

Unless… “Hyakkimaru? What’s happening?” He reached out to brush a hand over his hair. If he was locking up, then—

The second his hand touched, Hyakkimaru flinched back, curling in on himself and clenching his teeth.

_Pain._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At first I had debated whether to split this and the previous chapter, since I was concerned about having too many chapters lined up. But at the moment, I don't even know just yet how far into canon I intend to take this, and besides that, the manga splits this story into three chapters, so it seemed okay to split it into two.
> 
> While in the previous chapter, I said the villagers' treatment of Hyakkimaru is mostly based off episode 2 of the 2019 anime, that's not entirely true. Some of it also pulls from the manga's version of events at the end of "The Face Tumor," where they basically tell him that because he has prosthetics and Dororo is a thief, they don't want them sticking around. (Something similar happens in the movie after the Maimai-Onba incident as well)
> 
> And speaking of Maimai-Onba, she's actually part of the reason I opted to have most of the villagers ignorant of what Bandai was, except for a select few. I felt like I already did "Look we don't like it, but we do what we have to do" in my fanfic, "On the Knife's Edge," and though I'm all for repeating myself, I didn't want to do that this time. I don't know if or when my next opportunity to look at "a select few knowing and manipulating everyone else" will be, so I opted to play with that here (if only briefly). 
> 
> I meant to get to the whole bit about souls and Hyakkimaru writing his name, but the pacing I somehow got didn't allow for it. At the moment, I'm thinking that the souls discussion will fit better probably in the next chapter. As for the name thing, my thoughts are that Hyakkimaru assumes Kaname told Dororo his name, and Kaname figured out that they seem to have assigned Dororo a sort of sign name, and since they seem happy with that, he figures he'll give his written name if/when they ask for it. (Though I actually also have an idea of when that will be, too.)
> 
> Also, I should probably give credit to the 1998 revival of Cabaret for putting the song, "Money," back in and thus giving me the lyrics I stole the last two chapter titles from.
> 
> In any event, please let me know what you think!  
> ~Rin


	7. All These New Complications

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brief warning that this chapter will cover the burn incident from episode 3.

What was he supposed to do? Hyakkimaru was hunched over, teeth clenched and eyes squeezed shut, flinching away from even the smallest touch. How was he supposed to help him if even _that_ would just hurt him?

“What do we do?” And now Dororo was panicking, too, desperately trying to sound like he wasn’t on the verge of tears.

“Well, one thing’s certain.” The priest’s voice was entirely too calm. “We can’t stay here, and he can’t walk around with untreated wounds.”

Of course. _That_ much was obvious. But at the same time, that twinge of annoyance somehow gave him something to focus on. Obvious or not, he was right.

Swallowing hard, Kaname forced himself to answer. “I have something for pain relief. We’d have to brew it so he can drink it, but it might help.” That was if he would even swallow it. And if he didn’t turn out to be immune the way they’d thought when he was a small child.

Still, it had to be better than nothing.

“Then let’s get off the path a bit.” The priest started leading them, but Dororo darted ahead.

It was difficult, getting Hyakkimaru to his feet. He was trying, but when everything was catching and hurting, he kept stiffening, wincing and silently hissing. Kaname tried to direct him using his arms instead of his shoulders, hoping it would lessen the pain while still letting him know where they were leading him. Hoping it would still mean the same thing now that it was in the wrong spot.

Sometimes, he stepped on rocks and withdrew. For the first time, Kaname regretted that he and Jukai hadn’t gotten him any shoes. They had never been something he needed when both legs were prosthetics, and it would have been too frustrating for him to try to keep them on while he was wearing bandages. Besides, they had thought feeling the terrain might help him navigate, and beyond that, he might _like_ to feel the ground as he walked.

Had they been wrong?

By the time they managed to lead Hyakkimaru to the others, Dororo had gotten a small fire going and was feeding more sticks into it. He looked up at Kaname, eyes still wide, and said, “Okay, I got the fire going. Now you need water, right? Gimme the pot!”

He needed to situate Hyakkimaru first, so Kaname adjusted his bag to let Dororo get into it. Soon enough he’d darted off and found some water, which they began to heat up.

Once Kaname had measured out the dosage and brewed the pain medicine, he measured some into a small dish and touched it to Hyakkimaru’s lips. At first, he flinched away. Was it still too hot? Did he think it was the anesthetic? “It’s okay,” he told him, gesturing as best he could while minimizing contact. “It’s only going to help the pain.”

Eventually, he managed to swallow it a few sips at a time.

A few minutes later, it began to take effect. Hyakkimaru didn’t entirely relax, but at least some of the tension loosened up. “Is the pain less?” Kaname asked him. Hyakkimaru’s response was stiffer than what was normal for him, but he made that same motion back to him. Then it was at least a little better. At least enough that if they worked slowly, Kaname could clean and bandage his wounds. Not without him flinching and clenching his teeth, of course, but at least he wasn’t locked up on the ground.

Though that didn’t mean it wasn’t still an exhausting effort for him. Hyakkimaru’s movements slowly grew more and more uncoordinated, and with a wince, he flicked his hand twice near the side of his head. _Tired._ Silently, Kaname agreed that it would probably be better if Hyakkimaru could manage to get even a little rest before the medicine wore off. He nodded.

Between his injuries and the newfound stiffness he was bound to feel, he struggled to lie down, and it took him some time to nod off. (At least the medicine seemed to help reduce that time.) But once he was out, Kaname returned to find Dororo biting at his fingers and the priest staring off.

“Is he going to be okay?” Dororo looked past him to where Hyakkimaru was lying.

Hopefully eventually, Kaname thought. “It’s going to take Hyakkimaru some time to get used to feeling pain.” And temperature. Kaname really wished he knew how to expect him to react to temperature. “But I think over time he’ll adjust.”

“Okay.” Dororo didn’t sound entirely convinced.

“For now, the best thing we can do is to let him rest.” He would worry about how to manage the pain once he woke up. “In the meantime, I suppose I should introduce myself to your friend.”

The priest turned to them. “Yes, I suppose that is how things are usually done. You can call me Biwamaru.”

“Likewise, you can call me Kaname, and my brother is Hyakkimaru. Thank you for looking out for him and Dororo back in the village.”

Biwamaru gave a dry chuckle. “Don’t know that I’d say that’s entirely how it happened. More that we happened to be locked up in the same shed.”

Wait. “You were what?”

Biwamaru grinned wryly. “Heh. I see some things most sighted people don’t, and for demons, that tends to make ‘em uncomfortable. Hyakkimaru probably gets in the same kind of trouble, hm?”

Not really. Jukai would never have locked him in storage over something like that. He’d figured most people were the same way. Good to know he’d been mistaken.

“Or maybe he doesn’t.” He shrugged. “Who knows? People tend to be a bit strange about these things…”

Was this his way of trying to make conversation? Hell, was this a typical conversation to make and he'd just somehow missed it in the years he'd avoided the village? Luckily, Dororo cut in. “Oh, yeah! You were saying stuff before about how I was a white flame, and demons were red and stuff. You should tell Kaname!”

He adjusted his walking stick. “All right, then. For us who are blind, we sometimes have our own way of seeing. You could say we perceive things by their souls. People like you or Dororo appear as a white flame. Plant life is green, and metals are a faint blue. Demons come in shades of red, with those like Bandai being the murky color of blood.”

“And you think Hyakkimaru might see that way?” Or would it be different for him, having never had eyes to begin with?

“It’s possible.”

Hm. If that was the case, then Kaname might be able to learn enough to get a general idea of how it worked. Even if he wouldn’t be able to fully understand it, it might help him to better understand some of the stranger things, for lack of a better word, that Hyakkimaru had tried to communicate to him. Things that needed his way of seeing in order to make sense.

Before he could ask any more about it, Biwamaru continued. “Actually, I think I know where I’ve met him. It was a long while ago, and his aura’s not precisely the same. Took me awhile to place him because of that. But you found him on the river as a small baby, didn’t you?”

Ah. Or they could start discussing that. “My teacher did.” Kaname didn’t particularly want to share all the details of where _he_ had been at the time, and he desperately hoped Biwamaru wouldn’t ask.

“Mm. I thought as much. And I’m sure you’ve pieced some things together regarding the curse in which he’s been implicated.”

“What?” Dororo was suddenly on alert, rocking forwards and almost glaring at him. No one had ever mentioned anything about a deal or a curse. He didn’t say it out loud, but his meaning was clear. _Why didn’t you tell me?_

And Kaname didn’t want to answer him with _exactly because of the way he was looking right now_. Because that wasn’t something he’d ever expected or wanted to come up. As glad as he was that Dororo had joined the group, he _hadn’t_ been an expected addition, and there was no reason to go around telling people who weren’t going to stick around for more than a few hours. When that hadn't been the case, he'd simply forgotten about bringing it up. Just because he knew that there were demons who had parts of Hyakkimaru's body, it didn't mean Kaname knew how to explain it.

Still, there was no point in hiding it now.

“I know that monsters attack him, and that it has something to do with a deal which someone paid for using his body.” Kaname needed to remain calm. If he got worked up, Hyakkimaru might sense it and try to check on him at a time when he was much better off resting. “And I know that if he defeats the ones that have something of his, he can recover it.”

It almost seemed like Biwamaru was looking past him, studying Hyakkimaru’s aura. Almost as if he was looking for something.

“Is something wrong?” Better put a stop to that early. Was that even what he’d meant? After everything that happened with Bandai, he was just overthinking things. Right?

“Just trying to discern what it is I’m seeing.” His eyes narrowed further.

The green parts were his prosthetics, Kaname wanted to say. They were still new enough that they should still be visible. At least, if the way Hyakkimaru had always interacted with them was any indication. Still, that probably wasn’t what he meant. Hopefully not, anyway.

“Why would a demon wanna eat just one body part? There’s no way just one eye would keep their bellies full! And when he was just a baby—” Dororo sputtered, splicing words together with a string of swears.

Kaname considered pointing out that no, it hadn’t kept them full. Hyakkimaru’s right leg was proof of that.

“Maybe it fulfills their souls,” Biwamaru offered.

“Still!” Dororo hopped to his feet and started storming around. “Feeding a damn _baby_ to a bunch of demons! What kind of person even does that?!”

“Someone who is prepared to go to hell.”

Instinctively, Kaname reached for Hyakkimaru, even knowing he was still—Ah, never mind. He had gotten up and was heading towards them.

Dororo paused mid-stomp, suddenly chipper and grinning. “Hey! You’re awake.”

“But you should still be resting. Did the pain wake you up?” Kaname stood. It was probably too soon to give him any more of the medicine. It would probably be better to try and stretch its use out a bit. Wouldn’t it? Besides that, Kaname still worried that somehow he would become immune to it. But there were other ways to manage pain.

There was a pause, and he wasn’t sure what Hyakkimaru was focusing on. His aura? Dororo or Biwamaru’s? The fire? Nothing because he was in too much pain?

When Hyakkimaru continued towards the fire, he felt a momentary relief mixed with concern. This was the first time he was able to feel its heat, wasn’t it? His foot brushed the edge of the flames and he stepped back. That was fine. Hyakkimaru had always tested and explored the world around him. As he regained new senses, he would probably want to explore them, too.

And then his face screwed up in fierce determination as he stomped right into the middle of the flame and promptly locked up. Kaname froze, barely registering as Dororo shot forward and tackled Hyakkimaru away from the fire.

“ _What the hell are you doing?_ That’s fire and it’s _hot!_ ” Dororo yelled, but Kaname could see he was shaking.

 _He’s not burning, he’s not burning. It’s okay._ His limbs and clothes weren’t burning, but he needed to treat his foot.

Jukai had been the only other person in the house the other time this had happened. Had Jukai frozen up like this, too?

Bad. _Bad._ Worse than Wrong. Very bad. Worse than tired. Word motion hot burn. Hurt. Worse than hurt.

Hyakkimaru held the burned foot away from the ground. Touching anything was worse. Couldn’t move it, but felt it move.

Two souls beside him. One shaking and spikey. Small. Three Circles. Mad. Scared. The other one was just scared. Tense. Kaname. Moving. Trying to tell him something. He knew motions, but they weren’t making sense now. Couldn’t remember them. Because of the burn? Did the burn mean he couldn’t understand motions anymore?

A feeling like spikes shot through him. Like pain, but not. Different.

Something touched the side of his head. Hyakkimaru flinched away. Kaname was trying to help. But any touch felt bad. Even if the burn was worse.

Three Circles disappeared. Their worry didn’t. Then there was another feeling on his burned foot. Not hot. So cold. Still bad. He kicked his foot to get away from it. Then he felt the tap of Kaname’s hands on his arms. Less bad than on his skin.

Kaname motioned something, then held out a hand. Hyakkimaru held his own hand towards them. Needing a hand meant writing. Sometimes. But always meant help to know things.

Kaname guided his hand to tap against something solid. Then guided his fingers over some bumps on the object.

Two bumps. A jar. Medicine. No…yes? Two bumps was…two bumps was for burns. He felt some relief he could still understand that. Maybe the rest would come back, too.

A motion. Help. Kaname tapped the two bumps again.

Why was burn medicine so bad if it was supposed to help?

He clenched his teeth and tried not to gag as Three Circles finished applying the burn medicine, then watched him with a kind of worry in their aura.

Their souls evened out, and he felt the spikes leaving from his, too. Did some feelings hurt too, then? Before, he thought they didn’t. He had felt them, and he hadn’t felt pain. So then, did they have different parts?

He wanted to ask Kaname, but that tiredness had returned and was spreading over his whole body. Being burned made people tired, too? Kaname’s aura sent comfort and reassurance to him. Everything wouldn't be fixed that easily. But at least he understood what Kaname was trying to tell him.

At least souls were making sense again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't forgotten this one! Just that progress on each of my fics has been a bit slow-going lately. Part of it is because I tend to do too many things at once, since I'm hoping to get at least a chapter on my Saburota AU fic, and hopefully to finish the other stage play fic.
> 
> For this part, I felt like pain would be a pretty big adjustment, and that I wanted to focus on that for a bit, since the main body of episode three is the backstory for Jukai, and I kind of spent an entire 50,000 word fic on that already. Not that it will stop me from retreading it at some point. But I also wanted to work in the discussion about souls, since that was moved from the last chapter. (Part of it was also that I had to rewrite a scene due to forgetting to write Dororo's dialogue.)
> 
> Regarding Biwamaru, I kind of feel like Kaname's having to walk a bit of a line right now. This is someone who can help him understand what Hyakkimaru sees and translate it into terms Kaname and Dororo can understand (my headcanon is that Biwamaru lost his eyesight and learned the soul sight later in life), but I also think Kaname would be worried about being invasive towards him, especially after their recent experience with Bandai's village. In some ways, I think Kaname also sees Biwamaru the way Dororo saw Kaname back in the third chapter. 
> 
> Regarding the burn scene, I had wanted to cover the actual experience of being burned from Hyakkimaru's perspective, particularly since he would have thoughts and feelings about the remedy for it which would be better understood from his point of view (Kaname wouldn't necessarily know to think that he found the burn salve cold and somewhat slimey and gross, even though he realizes that, having never had skin, he wouldn't know what it was at first), but I also wanted the additional visual information Kaname's perspective would have provided. I had also thought off and on that regaining some of the physical sensations associated with different feelings might throw him for a bit, particularly if those sensations are strong or unpleasant to him.
> 
> I don't think that the majority of Hyakkimaru's communications will need to be permanently reworked, but I do want to spend some time with some alternatives while he's recovering, and maybe a bit of time on Dororo learning how to use them as well.
> 
> In any event, please let me know what you think!  
> ~Rin


End file.
